OT: Man U v Man City -- WHO YOU GOT?

Lots of soccer is posted OT here, and there are a few soccer fans that make some noise. Less than a week away from the BIG ONE, so time to get some chatter going -- and maybe rope in attention from some non-fans.

NEXT MONDAY, APRIL 30. MANCHESTER UNITED AT MANCHESTER CITY. THE "MANCHESTER DERBY." TOP 2 TEAMS IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE, SEPARATED BY 3 POINTS, AND 3 GAMES TO GO. WINNER CONTROLS ITS DESTINY.

WHO YOU GOT?

This has the making of being the highest-rated regular-season soccer game in world history. Manchester United ("Red Devils") have a so-so team by their standards, but are seeking their 20th championship. Manchester City ("Sky Blues") have a huge budget and star players, and they jumped out of the gate this season -- only to stall and fall behind Man U (they couldn't buy a road win for a while -- plus two of their top players are total headcases). But the last two weeks, Man U choked big time. Lost to relegation-threatened Wigan. Then, last week, they had a two-goal lead with 10 minutes at home against Everton -- AND BLEW IT -- gave up two goals, game tied 4-4. (Everton's goalie is US international Tim Howard, he had a huge save in extra time to preserve the tie.) So now Man U sits up only 3 points in the standings, with 3 pts for a win and 1 pt for a tie -- meaning, if they lose Monday to Man City, the teams will be TIED with 2 games to go.

Their games are always highly emotional, sort of Cubs v White Sox or Yankees v Mets, but this game will be HUGE. If Man U wins, they only need 1 tie in their last 2 games to win the championship. If Man City wins (and they beat Man U 6-1 earlier this year), they control their destiny -- they'd be tied with Man U, but Man City has the way better goals-differential. Man U would need to beat someone like 10-0 to catch up. If its a tie, Man U controls its fate but is only up 3 points -- a Man U loss plus a Man City win in a later game puts them on even, and Man City has the tiebreaker.

(The race for 3d and 4th is pretty good too. The top 4 get to play in Europe's Champion's League next season, which brings in about another $75M to $100M in revenue. Heavyweight Arsenal is only 2 pts up in 3d place; 4th is nobody Newcastle United. Can Newcastle hang on? Tottanham (with American Brad Friedel in goal) is 3 back (they choked this past weekend) in 5th; and big-name Chelsea is in 6th. But if Chelsea WINS this year's Champions Cup -- they play Barcelona today in the second leg of the semi -- they will get an auto-bid next year, so the Premier league only gets THREE, not four teams. Newcastle could get screwed!)

If you want to see European soccer at its highest level with the maximum passion, check out this game next Monday. PLUS, today and tomorrow conclude the Champions league semi-final fixtures. Chelsea upset world #1 team Barcelona (with Lionel Messi) 1-0 last week; can Chelsea pull the upset in the second game today? They need only tie, or lose by only one goal and score one themselves (e.g., 2-1, etc.). In the other game, Barca's arch rival Real Madrid (led by Ronaldo) is up on German heavyweight Bayern Munich, and needs just a tie to advance. The atmosphere of these games is great.

It's Sci Time -- Science, culture and common sense: http://itsscitime.wordpress.com

Man U has a longer history as a power. Man City is more like the University of Oregon. Was a fairly generic team, now an uber-rich dude is pouring money into the program, suddenly trendy in the last few years, and seeing success.

True. I met a guy from Manchester on a cruise in 2002 who was a big City fan. I'm not sure that they were even in the EPL at the time. He was careful to explain to me, an American, that there were actually 2 Manchester teams, and that City was not United. I knew this, but I was impressed by his (justifiable at the time) inferiority complex versus United.

I pass on EPL soccer. Its more like grass hockey than soccer, if you ask me (which you didn't). The better question is who do you have in the two Champions League games today (Barcelona vs. Chelsea) and tomorrow (Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich)??

P.S. I'm pretty sure that the Barcelona-Real Madrid clasico last weekend will end up being much more highly viewed than ManU-ManCity.

What would the second clasico be? Barca and Real have played both their Primera games and the Copa del Rey final is Barca v. Bilbao. I don't think there's anything left but the final of the champions league.

I have Real and Barca advancing, but both need to play a lot better, especially Barca. They have looked bad the last two games. Tello sucks, they really need an upgrade at his position in the offseason.

I have no idea why Guardiola kept Tello in as long as he did against Real. He was getting in dangerous positions but it was clear from pretty early on that the moment was too big for him. He did help create the Barca goal, but he squandered at least a half dozen other good opportunities, and I have to believe that either Sanchez, Pedro, or Cesc if he didn't want as much speed, would have done better with the opportunities.

I agree. Tello is clearly a talent but he needs to work on his game. He tries to rely on his speed to get to the line and it just doesn't work against superior defenses. On the other hand, I'm a huge fan of Cuenca and his play on the right wing. He just seems to create opportunities game in and game out. I'm glad he's starting today. I also like Cesc's vision. He definitely should have started.

Tello rarely starts, and they don't need to replace him seeing as they have Villa coming back next year (leg is currently broken). They really missed his finishing today against Chelsea. He's their best finisher and one of the only true strikers on the team. He's usually deployed on the left side of their three man front where Tello was for the Real game (although he was more of a number 9 at valencia).

Hoping for Chelsea-Bayern, and I believe Bayern is the more likely of the two to advance. Chelsea played great tactically at Stamford Bridge, but Barca showed very little. They miss David Villa. I do think Messi will have a better game at the Nou Camp though. I guess we'll find out later today.

Balotelli is not a thug, an immature idiot, yes, but not a thug. Anyway, the only way he plays is as a sub. Tevez is back to beast mode. Say what you want about Tevez off the field, on the field he always gives his all.

Immature idiot or thug is just semantics. Ballotelli does things on the field that are likely to seriously injury opposing players (see Gholston's punch on Lewan, for a good football example). It should not be allowed on the pitch and Man City would be wise to divorce themselves from a player like him.

better hope Chelsea lose to Bayern/Real. Cuz if they win the CL final, they take your spot next year.

Or, you have to catch Arsenal... meaning, beating City. Not holding my breath that happens, but most soccer fans without a dog in the fight are probably rooting for Newcastle, being the out-of-the-ordinary team here.

It's Sci Time -- Science, culture and common sense: http://itsscitime.wordpress.com

Man City just sealed my Wolves' relegation (it would've happened the next week if not this past weekend anyways).

But I hate both teams. People think the Yankees buy success......watch some Euro footy. It's depressing for a club like mine that does things correct from a business standpoint (doesn't really matter for many of these clubs that finish in the red because their owners can just make up for the losses through their outside investments and corporations and whatever other assets they have). Oh well. I will probably watch but have no rooting interest.

For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.

As an Arsenal fan, our plight is not as bad, but it is frustrating to see other teams leapfrog the gunners in terms of talent when Arsene and the board consistently post operating and transfer profits each year by developing young talent and producing quality sides.

Mick is one of the biggest reasons why I became a Wolves fan. I started following them the year after he was fired. I think he stands for the right things, but I also think he deserved to be let go. Our front office just completely botch the timing. No manager was going to want to come here with 13 matches to save us from relegation and the transfer window closed. I would have rather had kept him on til the end of the season and let him go afterwards. We'd probably still have a fighting chance to stay up if he were still here.

For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.

I have gotten into soccer over the last few years, and I have always liked the Blues from Man City. Now that they have the capitol, they are real good. I have to go with my boys next monday. Man c have been virtually unbeatable at the etihad, but the stakes are the highest ever for the darby. Man U clearly knows how the big game atmosphere is and will bring it, but City has some great experience on their side also. Man C 4-2.

when i was living in spain i befriended a northern irish man who , because of his thick accent, kept saying his favorite team was "serie". not wanting to show ignorance (and not having a clue what team he was referring to) i went along with his favorite team as "serie" for weeks until i realized he meant "city" as in manchester city.

so long story short, i will be rooting for city, as well as barcelona.

does anyone have a barca link that i could watch at work? dont know if its on epsn3 but our internet here has that channel blocked anyway.

I have the same work internets problem. All of the streaming sites are blocked for me. I do know that the game is on Fox Soccer but its also on some other overseas channels. Maybe one of them have a live stream?

They have been in awful form as of late. The Everton collapse very reminiscent of their early-season struggles.

Carrick is a decent defensive midfielder, both him and Scholes are ok as passers, but neither have enough creativity or speed to be a true attacking threat from the midfield that United desperately needs. Giggs is good as a pinch hitter. Young/Nani/Valencia obviously have the wings covered, but teams have been overloading the wings and daring United to attack from the middle.

Cleverly showed flashes before he got injured early in the season.

Eden Hazard, Luka Modric, Wes Schneider, in that order, are all needed playmakers @ midfield for United in the offseason, 20 times champions or not.

If United got two of those midfielders next year, wow, they will be incredible. I picked up Hazard for cheap in Fifa 12 and he is incredible in the third year of my manager stint. Love Fifa 12, I can play 4 games in the time it would take to play 1 NCAA 12 game.

Their fanbase is insufferable, but all things considered, they're an admirable team to root for. Much like the Red Wings, everyone hates their success, but their roster is mostly built through youth and their academy is outstanding.

As much as I love City's jerseys and their new ownership doing whatever it takes to build a winner, they're a jumbled mess of an All-Star team that can click occasionally(like their 6-1 thrashing of Man U earlier), or be the sideshow they've been the past few months. David Silva and Samir Nasri are two of the best players in the world - they've both tailed off dramatically the past month or so(especially Silva). Dropping Balotelli was smart, and it opens the door to the real wild card next week - Tevez. If he's truly back in form, then Ferdinand and the boys are going to have their hands full on defense.

I still say Man U wins, but I'm not against watching some City magic. Honestly, next season can't come soon enough - English football has been embarrassing this year, but I believe Arsenal is destined for greatness next season. Hopefully changes at Liverpool and Chelsea will bring the league to prominence. Right now its one good team(ManU), one really good team that's also really bad(City), and those lovable Magpies lurking around. Meh.

I root against both, but I have much more respect for Man U as an organization than for City. I suppose I'd rather see City win one title for their long-term fans who supported them before they started throwing gobs of cash around. Man U has won enough titles.

I can't imagine a world where United has a three point lead over City with 3 games left and doesn't finish the job.

Much like Chelsea last year, they'll pull out a victory, ensuring the 20th title in club history, two more than Littlepool. And once again, they'll do it with a team that, while more expensive than most, is an actual team, not a collection of auction items.

Also, I hate how people call us the Yankees. Since Ronaldo left, we haven't used that money. We haven't bought any insane purchase in years. Alot of our talent is home grown. I would actually say the Red Wings are a great comparision. Long history of winng, lots of talent from the farm, normally willing to spend if needed (but not crazy like city), but not spending as of late (see the $5 mill the wings didnt use this year).

Not going to make a prediction on Monday itself, but I'm almost postive City won't win the league. Doubt they take three at Newcastle and against United.

But, allow me to offer a defense of City's Arab oil money spending spree. The EPL was created as a selfish money grab by the top clubs who wanted to kick less money down the pyramid. Then money was consolidated again when the Champion's League was expanded and the top four teams got a huge chunk of money no one else got a share of. If you weren't a powerful club when these two changes happened, you were left behind. Look at the list of EPL champions, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Blackburn are the only teams to win it in twenty years. United and Arsenal were among the historic powerhouses who created the new financial system and are both coached by the best managers of the premier league era. Blackburn and Chelsea took the City approach of being bought by a rich guy who pumped a ton of cash into the team. Unfortunately, that's the only way for a team to go from midtable to contenders. Don't blame City, blame the system.

And what's with the United homegrown players thing I read a couple times in this thread? Giggs, Scholes, Welbeck, and Evans are the only academy products contributing at all this season. More than City, but it's not a lot.